System and method for the automatic distribution of inmate phone recordings

Abstract

A method of automatically distributing phone call recordings to interested parties generally includes associating one or more forwarding criteria with each of one or more interested parties, establishing a phone call from a calling party to a destination number through an institutional phone system, recording the phone call, and, if the phone call satisfies one or more forwarding criteria associated with one or more interested parties, automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the at least one interested party associated with the satisfied one or more forwarding criteria. Distribution may be by e-mail, by uploading the recording to a website that interested parties (and preferably only interested parties) can access, by queuing the recordings for export to physical media, and/or through a voice mail system. Calls may be selected for distribution based on the caller, the called party, conversation content, call time, or any other suitable criteria.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of automatically distributing a recording of a phone call to an interested party, the phone call being placed by a calling party through an institutional phone system to a destination number, the method comprising:
 associating forwarding criteria with the interested party, comprising:
 establishing a data record including at least contact information for the interested party and the forwarding criteria; and 
 storing the data record in a recipients database, wherein the data record further includes a delivery criteria for the interested party; 
 
 establishing the phone call from the calling party to the destination number through the institutional phone system; 
 recording the phone call; 
 determine that the phone call satisfies the forwarding criteria associated with the interested party; 
 setting a data flag in response to the recording of the phone call being complete; and 
 automatically distributing the recording of the phone call in response to the data flag, to the interested party associated with the satisfied forwarding criteria, comprising:
 based on the delivery criteria, exporting the recording of the phone call to one or more physical media, comprising:
 placing the recording of the phone call in an export queue; and 
 exporting the recording of the phone call to one or more physical media from the export queue on a scheduled basis; and 
 
 
 providing the interested party with access to the one or more physical media. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating the calling party identity with the interested party. 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating the destination number with the interested party. 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating the time of call with the interested party. 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating a conversation content with the interested party. 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating two or more of the following with the interested party: a calling party identity, a destination number, a time of call and, a conversation content. 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the interested party further comprises e-mailing a copy of the recording of the phone call to the interested party. 
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the interested party further comprises uploading the recording of the phone call to a website. 
     
     
       9. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the interested party further comprises providing access to the recording of the phone call through a voice mail system. 
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 establishing a second phone call from a calling party to a second destination number through the institutional phone system; 
 recording the second phone call; 
 determining that the second phone call does not satisfy any forwarding criteria associated with the interested party; and 
 storing without automatically distributing, the recorded second phone call into memory. 
 
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising enclosing the recording of the phone call in a security wrapper prior to automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the interested party. 
     
     
       12. A method of automatically distributing a recording of a call to an interested party, the method comprising:
 establishing and storing a data record in a recipients database, the data record including at least contact information for the interested party and forwarding criteria to specify conditions for determining that the recording of the call will be forwarded, wherein the data record further includes a delivery criteria for the interested party; 
 establishing a telephonic connection between a calling party and a called party through an institutional phone system; 
 recording the call between the calling party and the called party; 
 identifying the data record whose forwarding criteria are met by information associated with the call; 
 setting a status flag to indicate that the recording of the conversation is available for forwarding; and 
 automatically distributing the recording of the call to the interested party in response to a change in status of the status flag, comprising:
 based on the delivery criteria, exporting the recording of the phone call to one or more physical media, comprising:
 placing the recording of the phone call in an export queue; and 
 exporting the recording of the phone call to one or more physical media from the export queue on a scheduled basis; and 
 
 providing the interested party with access to the one or more physical media. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the automatically distributing the recording further comprises:
 encrypting the recording of the phone call using an encryption key to create an encrypted recording; and 
 wherein the automatically distributing is carried out by distributing the encrypted recording. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the encryption key is a public key associated with a private/public key system. 
     
     
       15. A system for automatically distributing a recording of a call an interested party, the system comprising:
 a telephone device; 
 a recipients database, the recipients database including a data record including identity information for the interested party, and forwarding criteria to specify conditions for determining that the recording will be forwarded, wherein the data record further includes a delivery criteria for the interested party; and 
 a call recording distribution processor configured to:
 establish and store the data record; 
 identify the data record whose forwarding criteria are met by information associated with the call; 
 determine that the recording is complete; 
 set a data flag; and 
 automatically distribute the recording in response to the data flag to the interested party identified therein, the call recording distribution processor further configured to: 
 based on the delivery criteria, export the recording of the call to one or more physical media, comprising:
 place the recording of the call in an export queue; and 
 export the recording of the call to one or more physical media from the export queue on a scheduled basis; and 
 
 provide the interested party with access to the one or more physical media. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The system according to  claim 15 , wherein the call recording distribution processor is further configured to invoke a forwarding agent to distribute the recording of the call to the interested party. 
     
     
       17. The system according to  claim 16 , wherein the forwarding agent includes at least one of an email agent, a web service agent, or a voice mail agent. 
     
     
       18. The system according to  claim 15 , further comprising a recording archive including a recorded call. 
     
     
       19. A method of automatically distributing a recording of a phone call to an interested party, the phone call being placed by a calling party through an institutional phone system to a destination number, the method comprising:
 associating forwarding criteria with the interested party, comprising:
 establishing a data record including at least contact information for the interested party and the forwarding criteria; and 
 storing the data record in a recipients database, wherein the data record further includes a delivery criteria for the interested party; 
 
 establishing the phone call from the calling party to the destination number through the institutional phone system; 
 recording the phone call; 
 determine that the phone call satisfies the forwarding criteria associated with the interested party; 
 automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the interested party, comprising:
 based on the delivery criteria, exporting the recording of the phone call to one or more physical media comprising:
 placing the recording of the phone call in an export queue; 
 exporting the recording of the phone call to one or more physical media from the export queue on a scheduled basis; and 
 
 providing the interested party with access to the one or more physical media. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating the calling party identity with the interested party. 
     
     
       21. The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating the destination number with the interested party. 
     
     
       22. The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating the conversation content item with the interested party. 
     
     
       23. A method of automatically distributing a recording of a phone call to an interested party, the phone call being placed by a calling party through an institutional phone system to a destination number, the method comprising:
 associating forwarding criteria with the interested party, comprising:
 establishing a data record including at least contact information for the interested party and the forwarding criteria; and 
 storing the data record in a recipients database, wherein the data record further includes a delivery criteria for the interested party; 
 
 establishing the phone call from the calling party to the destination number through the institutional phone system; 
 recording the phone call; 
 determine that the phone call satisfies the forwarding criteria associated with the interested party; 
 automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the interested party, comprising:
 based on the delivery criteria, exporting the recording of the phone call to one or more physical media, comprising:
 placing the recording of the phone call in an export queue; and 
 exporting the recording of the phone call to one or more physical media from the export queue on a scheduled basis; and 
 
 
 providing the interested party with access to the one or more physical media; 
 establishing a second phone call from a calling party to a second destination number through the institutional phone system; 
 recording the second phone call; 
 determining that the second phone call does not satisfy any forwarding criteria associated with the interested party; and 
 storing without automatically distributing, the recorded second phone call into memory. 
 
     
     
       24. The method according to  claim 23 , wherein the associating forwarding criteria with the interested party further comprises associating two or more of the following with the interested party: calling party identity, destination number, time of call, and conversation content. 
     
     
       25. The method according to  claim 23 , wherein the automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the interested party further comprises e-mailing a copy of the recorded phone call to the interested party. 
     
     
       26. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the automatically distributing the recording of the phone call to the interested party further comprises uploading the recording of the phone call to a website.